GrimSkunk have released a new double single, pairing United & Strong with Nice Dice, their first new material since 2018’s Unreason in Age of Madness. The Montreal band dropped both tracks this week while continuing work on a new album expected in 2026.
United & Strong came together quickly. Guitarist and vocalist Franz Schuller says he wrote it within half an hour of watching an Agnostic Front documentary, pulling from the band’s connection to New York hardcore and the community around it. That shows up in the structure. It’s direct, chant-led, and built to be carried by a crowd rather than dressed up in production.
Nice Dice moves in a different direction. Keyboardist and vocalist Joe Evil frames it as a response to political short-term thinking, casting leadership as a gamble where the risks land elsewhere. The track leans heavier, closer to the abrasion of Black Flag than the forward push of United & Strong, though both songs keep the same sense of urgency.
The band formed in Montreal in 1988, at a time when alternative rock had little foothold in Quebec. Early records like Autumn Flowers, Exotic Blend, and Meltdown pushed a mix of punk, metal, and psychedelic ideas into a local scene that wasn’t set up for it. By the late 90s they were touring internationally and running their own label, Indica Records, releasing their own work alongside other artists working outside the system.
They’ve played more than 2,000 shows since then. The new material doesn’t try to reintroduce them or smooth out the edges. It stays close to what they’ve always done, leaning on rhythm, volume, and a sense of purpose that comes from being in a room together rather than assembling something piece by piece.
The band are currently in the studio with producer Gggarth Richardson, finishing work on the next album. No release date has been confirmed.
Photos – Carl Thériault
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